Rotary engine.



`T. W. BENSON.

ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE a. 191s.

\ Patented Allg. 11, 1914.

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THE Nolams PETERS 00,. PHOTO-LITHO., wAsmNGroN. l.:4 r

T. W. BENSON.

ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNI: a, 191s,

Patented Aug. 11, 1914.

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T. W. BBNsoN. ROTARY ENGINE APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 3, 1913. 1 1 06,6 1 7.

Patented Aug. 11, 1914.

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THE NORR'IS PETERS COA'. PHUTO-LITHO. WASINTON. D. C.

iinrrnn sTATEs PATENT ortica..

TULLY W. BENSON, OF VINKELMAN, ARIZONA.

ROTARY ENGINE.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, TULLY W. BENSON, citizen of the United States, residing at Winkelman, in the county of Gila and State of Arizona, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Engines, of

Y which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to rotary engines and particularly to that type of engine in which a bladed rotor is used, and in which the motive fluid is admitted continuously behind each blade or piston of the rotor during nearly the whole of t-he rotation of the rotor and exhausted from in front of each piston or blade during nearly the entire rotation of the rotor.

The primary obj ectof my invention is the provision of a rotary engine of an effective character and exceedingly simple construction, having few parts and therefore little liable to get out of order and in which friction between moving parts is reduced to a minimum.

A further object in this connection is to provide a rotatable cylinder within which the rotor isu mounted and with which it moves whereby to eliminate friction between the rotor blade and the exterior cylinder.

A further object is to so construct the rotor blade and the part supporting it that the rotor blade may be readily shifted en tirely within the circumference of the rotor at the point where the rotor comes in contact with the outer cylinder to thus provide for a fluid tight joint between the rotor and cylinder at this point.

A further object is `to provide means whereby steam may be taken into the space behind the piston between the rotor and the cylinder during a certain extent of rotation without the necessity of providing more or less complicated cut-off valves for this purose.

p A further object is to provide a construction which shall particularly adapt the rotary engine for use as a compound engine in which the exhausted motive iiuid is carried from the high pressure rotor to the low pressure rotor.

A further object is to provide means whereby the rotatable cylinder inclosing the rotor and the rotor itself shall be independently journaled so that one may be adjusted with relation to the other to secure a proper operation of the parts.

A further Objectis to provide means for Specification. of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 11, 1914.

Application mea June s', 1913. 'serial No. '?71,563.

nal section of a rotary engine constructed in `accordance with my invention, the section being taken on the line l-l of Fig. 2; Fig.

`2 l1s a section on the line 2 2 of Fig. l; "Fig 3 is a perspective view of the `rotor and the rotor blades, the blades being separated from the rotor. Fig. t is a sectional detail illustrating the manner of pivoting the seg mental piston head to the casing.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the accompanying drawings by the same reference characters.

Referring to these drawings, 2 designates a base of any suitable construction upon which the engine is mounted and having the pillars 3 carrying shaft bearings 4 at their upper ends. Disposed in these bearings is a shaft 5 adapted to be driven by the rotor.

Mounted upon the base 2 is a casing composed of the end pieces 6, the side sections 7 and the top section S. The sect-ions are bolted or otherwise attached to each other in any suitable manner. The end members 6 are annular in form to permit the passage of the shaft 5. Bolted or otherwise attached to each of the end members is a plate 9 which has an inwardly projecting circular hub 9a less in diameter than the diameter of the opening through the adjacent end member 6. The particular construction of these plates 9 and their use will be apparent later. Mounted upon the shaft 5 and within the casing is a rotor 10. As illustrated, this rotor is adapted to be used with a compound engine and is therefore formed in two sections but this form of construct-ion will be referred to later. The rotor is circular in form as illustrated in Fig. 3. The rotor is hollow and is keyed or otherwise fastened upon the shaft 5. -This rotoris provided with a radially shiftable blade.

Surrounding the rotor is a cylinder 11, the inner surface of which is eccentric to the peripheral surface of the rotor so that the rotor and the inner face of the cylinder touch at the point a, Fig. 2. The cylinder 11 has a width equal to ltheV width of-'t-herotor and each end ofthe cylinder. is closed by an annular plate 12 which may be bolted to the cylinder 11. Each plate 12 has a projecting annular hub 13 formed at its end.VH

The extremityof the hubhas at its end a bearing ring 14 and the edge of this ringis formed with a raceway engaging the ball bearings 15. -The outer circumference of the hub 9ZL of the plate 9 has a diameter equal to the interior diameter of eachhub 13 so that the hub 9a ts within the hub 13.

It will be seen fromV Fig. 1 that the hub 9"- is bored eccentrically to its axis for the passage of the shaft 5 and that therefore While the cylinder 11 with its end walls 12 rotates concentrically tothe'axis, of the hub A9a,V the axis ofthe rotor `is eccentric to the axis of the-hub Qand therefore eccentric to the axis ofcylinder 11. `A packing ring`16 is disposedgbetween the outerface of the hub 13 and the adjacent edge wall of the end piece 6, this edge wall of the end VpieceV being prefwith .the end wall of the rotor.

It will be noticed from Fig. 2 that the outer face of the cylinder 11 is spaced lfrom the outer face 0f the casing formed by the sections 7 and S, the base 2 and the end walls 6. The space 19 thus Aformed is designed to be filled with steam. 4The end walls 6 are annularly out away as at 2O so as to permit a certain very small amount of steam to leak into the space between the end walls 12 and the end walls 6 and thus reduce friction between the end walls of the cylinder and the end walls of the casing. The rotor is provided at Vone, point in itscircumference with a slot 21, this slot extending the entire length of the rotor, and the rotor isY also formed with a plurality of slots 22 extending circumferentially. Each of these slots atthe end farthest from the blade-receiving slot 21 is relatively shallow and the bottom of the slot extends' in a curve from .this point to the 'bottom of the slot 21.' Pivotally mounted in the slots 22 are the arms 23 carrying at their ends the transversely extending blade 24. This blade constitutes a piston headand may be made in any suitable manner but as shown is recessed around its edge for the reception of packing 25. The slot 21 is struck upon a curve concentric tothe pivotal axis of thearms 23 and the head or bladev 24 has the same curvatureas the curvature ofthe slot 21. VThe slot-21 is of Vsuch depth that when the blade 24 is moved all the way into the slot, the outer edge efthelblade will beiflushv-with; the" Aperiphery of theV rotor. The outer .edges of the arms 23 also have a curvature of the.V

same degree as the inside of the cylinderl 11 so that when the blade is moved all the way into thelrecess 21, the upper edgesfoffthe arms -23 will lieflush with theY inside face of i' the cylinder. While I havel illustrated two v of these arms for thelrotor, I do net wish to be limited to this number as amore or lessi number of these arms might be used. VThe upper edge of the blade-v is pivotally cons.;` necte'd at its corner Vto thepcylinder 11. KThis pivotal means'may be of any ch'aracterbut 1 have shown yit las an ear26 projeetingffrom the inner face of the cylinder into aslot 26a inthe edge of the rotor blade, therev being a pin 26" passingthrough this slotiand through v the ear. `inasmuch as the rotor is eccentric to the inner 'periphery of the cylinder, it is obvious that as the cylinder and rotor rotate togetherinthe direction of the arrow, Fig.

2, the Ysurface of the cylinder and rotor will come gradually nearerand nearer together f d and the blade will gradually go farther and farther into the slot 21 untilthe point of contact between'the rotor and cylinder 'isY passed, whereupon'the adjacentsurface of the rotor VandV cylinder gradually'separate and the blade is drawn out.` At the pointl diametrically opposite the point of contact of the blade and cylinder, the

blade is' drawn outV to its fullest extent.

Immediately behind thefblade is an"Y inlet port 27 passing. throughthe wall of ltheV cylinder 11 rand into the fluid space 19. Alt will be seen that as thisl fluid'space extends en'- tirely .around the cylinder 11, the'port 27 will at all times be in communication with thisfluid space.: The outer casing Vis also provided, with a fluid'inlet .port Vconnected by means of a duct 28 to a9source of fluid under pressure.

One orboth end walls of y A the cylinder immediately in advanceofthe blade 24 is formed with an exhaust port 29.

It is to be noted that boththe exhaust port and the inlet port 27 travel with'the cylinder and that this cylinder travels withthe rotor so that the exhaust -port and the "inlet port both have a fixed' relation', to the blade 24. Thus vthe Vport on; one side of this bladeis' at all times connected with the space behind the blade while the other port is atV all times connected'to the space in front of the blade steam or other motive fluid. As theblade .d

travels forward in the direction of Varrow, Fig. 2, it is obviousth'at this spacejBwill continually decrease in content andthat the ist exhausted fluid within the space B will be driven out through the port 29. As the blade passes the point a; which constitutes an abutment, steam will enter between the blade and this point of contact or abutment and will act to impel the blade forward. The space A behind the piston will gradually increase as the blade moves from the point a to its uppermost point of movement so as to permit the steam or other motive fluid in the space 8 to expand. This expansion will continue throughout a complete revolution of the rotor, that is, until the exhaust opening 29 reaches and passes the point of contact a. It is obvious that cut- 0H devices may be used for cutting off the inflow of steam into the space A at any desired point. A cut-oft valve for this purpose being obvious, I have not shown it or described it specifically. `Where, however, steam is intended to enter through the entire rotation of the rotor, no cut-off valve is necessary.

I have heretofore described my rotary engine as if it were a simple engine, but in order to show that the principle of construction is equally adaptable to compound engines, I have illustrated the engine as compounded and as provided with a high pressure rotor chamber designated C and a low pressure rotor chamber designated D. These chambers are separated by means of' an annular partition 30 which is preferably attached to the -cylinder 11 though not necessarily so and which is received in an annular recess 3l formed in the rotor. l/Vhere the engine is a compound engine, I preferably form the rotor in two sections, c and CZ, the section c being formed on its inner face with a projecting hub 32 having a depth equal to the thickness of the partition 30. This section c is bolted to the section CZ by bolts 33. I do not wish to be limited to this construction however. Where the engine is a. compound engine, it is obvious Vthat the exhaust opening 29a leading from the rotor chamber C will be formed in the partition 30 and will extend rearward so as to open behind the bladeas at 27a in the low pressure rotor chamber. Tt will further be seen of course that the exhaust port 29 for the chamber D will be disposed in advance of the blade"of the rotor section d.

As illustrated and as I preferably construct by rotary engine, the end members 9 are annular in form so as to provide an annular portion 34 seating in an annular recess formed in the adjacent end plate 6 and bolted to this end plate by bolts 35. This annular portion 34 is outwardly dished as at 36 so as to extend out over the extremity of the adjacent hub 13 and the inner face of this dished portion 36 is formed with a ball bearing race 37 and adapted to coact with the antifriction balls 15. While AI have illustrated the arms 23 as attached to `an inner wall 38 which is disposed inside of the wall l2 at the low pressure end of the cylinder and which may be formed with or attached to the peripheral wall ll of the cylinder. The wall 38 is separated from the wall l2 by an exhaust space or duct 39 which leads to an exhaust port 40 in the portion 9a of the end plate 9. This exhaust space 39 is in constant communication with the exhaust port so as to provide for the constant exhaust of motive fluid from the space in advance of the blade of the cylinder D. As each piston and its arms are connected to the outer cylinder and to the rotor, it will be obvious that the blades will move out and in automatically but springs may be used beneath the blades to assist this outward movement, and it will be further "obvious that if the centrifugal force is` too great, thus causing too great pressure against the cylinder, the arms and blade may be counterbalanced so as to reduce this outward pressure.

It will be particularly noted that the blades of the high and low pressure cylinders of the rotor are in alincment with each other. This is for the reason that during a revolution when the rotor ends of the arms 23 pass contact point f1, the rotor and cylinder are traveling at exactly the same speed, but the instant the rotor ends of the arms 23 pass that point and begin to move away from the cylinder l1, there is a change in the speed of travel between the cylinder ll and the rotor. Hence if one piston blade should be disposed other than exactly in line with the other piston blade, the engine would stop or brake. The bearings for the rotor shaft as well as the bearings for the hollow cylinder shaft 13 may be 'made adjustable to suit any requirement such as adjusting the relative gositionsI of the rotor and the cylinder. These bearings may be ball bearings, roller bearings or ordinary plain bearings.

1While I have illustrated the division between the high pressure and low pressure cylinders as formed by the partition 30, I wish it understood that it is within the scopo of my invention to provide two entirely separate rotors, each operating in an eu- `tirely separate rotor chamber, and that the details illustrated and described are for the purpose of illustrating my invention and that I do not wish to be limited to these details.' Neither do I wish to be limited to the use of my invention in connection with any particular motive fluid as it is obvious that my rotary engine may be used with fluid in a state-of compression or as an internalcombustion motor.

What I claim is:

1. A rotary engine of the character described including an exterior casing, a hollow cylinder disposed within the casing and spaced 'therefrom and having an inlet port, a rotor mounted within the cylinder and having a radially extending piston, and operative connections between the rotor and cylinder whereby they shall travel together.

2. A rotary engine including an outer casing connected to a source of fluid pressure, a hollow cylinder rotatably mounted within the casing and having an inlet port communicating with the interior of the casing, a rotor mounted within the cylinder and operatively connected thereto to travel therewith, and a radially movable blade carried upon the rotor. A

3. A rotary engine of the character described including an outer casing, a hollow cylinder rotatably mounted in the outer casing, a rotor mounted within the hollow cylinder, the rotor being eccentric to the interior face of the cylinder and touching said face at one point, and a radially movable piston head coacting with the rotor and the cylinder, the cylinder being provided. with an inlet port behind the head communicating with the interior of the casing and with an exhaust port and the cylinder and rotor being operatively connected for coincident rotation.

4. A rotary engine of the character described including an outer casing connected to a source of fluid pressure, a cylinder rotatably mounted within the outer casing and having an inlet port opening thereinto and an outlet port, a rotor eccentrically mounted within the cylinder and contacting therewith at one point, a radially movable blade carried upon the rotor and contacting with the inner face of the cylinder between the outlet and inletkports, and operative connections between the rotor and cylinder whereby they shall rotate coincidently.

5. A rotary engine of the character described including` a hollow cylinder rotatably mounted and having an inlet port and an` outlet port, a rotor eccentrically mounted within the cylinder and touching the interior face thereof at one point, a radially movable blade mounted upon the rotor and pivotally connected to the cylinder and disposed between the inlet and the outlet ports.v 6. A rotary engine of the character de-- scribed including a hollow cylinder rotatably 'mounted, a rotor eccentricallyY mounted within thehollow cylinder and touching the latter at one point, a radially movableepiston head mounted upon the rotor,.andarms extending from the piston head and pivoted to theV rotor, the outer edge of the piston head being pivotally connected to the cylinder, said cylinder being provided with anV inlet port and an outlet port disposed one on each side of the said piston head.

7. A rotary engine of the characterV described including a rotatably mountedcylinder having outlet and inlet ports, an eccentrically mounted rotor disposed within Vthe cylinder and touching at one point,'said rotor being formed with a transverse piston head recess and a-circumferentially extend-V ing arm receiving recess,.a radially movableV piston head mounted Vinthe rst namedrecess, an arm carried thereby and disposed in the second named recessjand pivoted at fits extremity tothe rotor, the outer edge of the piston head being pivotally connectedito :the cylinder, said head being disposed `between the outlet and inlet ports o-f the cylinder. 8. A rotary engine of the character Vdescribed includingl a rotatably mounted cylinder, an eccentrically mounted rotor disposed.

within Vthe cylinder, said rotor having a pistonl head receiving recess and a circumferentially extending arm receiving recess, 'a piston head disposed in the first named recess, an'arm disposed inthe second named recess and pivoted at its extremity to the rotor, said arm having itsV outer edge face curved to the same degree as the curvaturel of the inner face of thecylinder, the outeredge of the head being pivotally connected to the cylinder and said cylinder being provided l with an outlet andan inlet port disposed one on each side of the head.

9. A rotary engine including a base,-a casing mounted upon the base and including annular end walls and a peripheral wall, a cylinder-mounted within the casingfand including a peripheral wall Vspaced from the casing, and annular end walls having Vannular` hubs extending through the end walls of theJ casing and rotatably mounted therein, a shaft passing through thecasing and the cylinder and disposed eccentrically to the axis thereof,a rotor mounted 0n the shaft and located within the cylinder and touching at one point, said rotor having. a

transversely extending piston head recessV anda circumferentially `extending arm receiving recess, and a pistonheadimounted Vwithin the first named recess and havingan arm projecting therefrom and disposed in the second named recess, the'extreniity of the arm being pivotally connected to t-he rotor and the outer edge of theV piston be-` ing pivotallyieonnected to the cylinder, the

outer edge face of the arm havinga curva-` ture of the same degree as the curvature of the inner face ofthe cylinder, said cylinder being formed with an inlet and an outlet port disposed one on each side of the piston head, the inlet port opening into the spacel between the outer casing and the cylinder.

cylinder mounted Within the casing and including a peripheral wall spaced from the;

c; sing, and annular end walls having annular hubs extending through the end walls of the casing and rotatably mounted therein, a shaft passing through the casing and the cylinder and disposed eccentrically to the axis thereof, end plates mounted on the end walls of the casing and having inwardly extending hubs surrounding the shaft and rotatably supporting the hubs of the cylinder, a rotor mounted on the shaft and located within the cylinder and touching at one point, said rotor having a transversely extending piston head recess and a circumferentially extending arm receiving recess, and piston head mounted within the first named recess and having an arm projecting therefrom and disposed in the second named recess, the extremity of the arm being pivotally connected to the rotor and the outer edge of the piston being pivotally connected to the cylinder, the outer edge face of the arm having a curvature of the same degree as the curvature of the inner face of the cylinder, said cylinder being formed with an inlet and an outlet port dispos-ed one on each side of the piston head, the inlet port opening into the space between the outer casing and the cylinder,

1l. A rotary engine including a base, a casing mounted upon the base and including annular end walls and a peripheral wall, a cylinder mounted within the easing and including a peripheral wall spaced from the casing, and annular end walls having annular hubs extending through the end walls of the casing and rotatably mounted therein, a shaft passing through the casing and the cylinder and disposed eccentrically to the axis thereof, a rotor mounted on the shaft and located within the cylinder and touching at one point, said rotor having a transversely extending piston head recess, and a circumferentially extending arm receiving recess, a piston head mounted within the first named recess and having an arm projecting therefrom and disposed in the second named recess, the extremity of the arm being pivotally connected to the rotor and the outer edge of the piston being pivotally connected to the cylinder, the outer edge face of the arm having a curvature of the same degree as the curvature of the inner face of the cylinder, said cylinder being formed with an inlet and an outlet port disposed one on each Side of the piston head, the inlet port opening into the space between the outer casing and the cylinder, packing disposed between the rotor and the cylinder, and packing disposed between the hub of the cylinder and the bearing in the outer casing.

l2. A compound rotary engine including an outer casing, a cylinder rotatably mounted in the casing and having an inlet and an outlet port, a rotor eccentrically mounted within the cylinder and contacting at one edge with the cylinder, said rotor having a circumferentially extending partition receiving recess, an annular partition attached to the cylinder and extending into said recess, and thereby dividing the space within the casing into a high and a low pressure chamber, radially movable blades mounted upon the rotor, one on each side of the parttion and urged into contact with the interior face of the casing, the rotor being pivotally connected to the cylinder and each of said blades being disposed between the inlet and outlet ports of the respective chambers, the outlet port from the high pressure chamber opening into the space behind the blade of the low pressure chamber.

13. A compound rotary engine including an outer casing, a cylinder rotatably mounted in the casing and having an inlet and an outlet port, a rotor eccentrically mounted within the cylinder and contacting at one edge with the cylinder, being made in two sections, one of said sections having a hub contacting with the other section to thereby provide an annular partition receiving recess, a partition mounted upon the cylinder and extending into said recess, said partition being formed with an outlet port and dividing the cylinder into a high pressure and a low pressure chamber, radially movable blades mounted upon the rotor, one on each side of the partition and urged into contact with the interior face of the casing, the rotor being pivotally connected to the cylinder and each of said blades being disposed between the inlet and outlet ports of the respective chambers, the outlet port from the high pressure chamber opening into the space behind the blade of the lower pressure chamber.

14. A rotary engine including a casing having annular end walls and a peripheral wall, a cylinder mounted within the casing and including a peripheral wall spaced from the casing, and annular end walls having annular hubs extending through the end walls of the casing and rotatably mounted therein, a shaft passing through the casing and the cylinder and disposed eccentrically to the axis thereof, a rotor mounted on the shaft and located within the cylinder and touching the cylinder at one point, said rotor having a transversely extending piston head recess and a circumferentially 10 -the adjacent` annular hub of the adjacent endv Wall of the casing having an exhaust port communicating at all times with said space.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

TULLY W. BENSON. [11.3.31

Vitnesses: Y'

C. F. HANCOCK, FLOYDV FISHER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents;

' Washington, D. C. 

